This week’s episode recaps a webinar I recently hosted that wasn’t really a webinar at all! Not a lesson, not a lecture—it was a work session.
The 3 Things Your Students Need to Become Self-Motivated Musicians
Not long ago, I met with a family to talk about beginning piano lessons. I chatted with the parents for several minutes and as our discussion drew to a close, their eight-year-old son exclaimed, “Mom!
Understanding the Language of Music Education Advocacy
Music is an essential part of every child’s education. Truthfully, it’s a fundamental part of the human experience. Scholars, poets, and philosophers throughout history have praised music as being one of the highest forms of art.
Helping Students Persevere When They Want to Quit
Learning to play a musical instrument is hard. However, my experience as a middle school orchestra teacher led me to discover that most adolescent musicians believe that learning to play an instrument is easy.
6 Simple Steps for Starting Your Music Booster Organization
Have you been struggling to get funding for your growing music program? Though schools and districts have the bulk of the responsibility for providing the needs of school music programs, often they fall short of the mark.
Classic iPad App Availability
As of June 30, 2020, the classic SmartMusic iPad app will no longer be available to download from the App Store.
New SmartMusic iPad Compatibility with Safari for the 20/21 School Year
As of June 30, 2020 New SmartMusic will be supported in the iPad Safari browser. It will have the same functionality as the New SmartMusic iPad app and increased benefits such as the ability to download WAV files and open shared links.
Coming Soon: Favorites List
You asked, we listened. Last month we added Sticky Settings and MIDI Assessment in the Practice app. We are currently developing a Favorites List feature and wanted to give you a sneak peek before the release!
How to Become a Virtuoso Teacher
The success of getting our students to practice is very much in our hands. If we allude to practice subtly during the course of the lesson (when you practice what might you do next; what might be an interesting way to think about this…), if we represent practice in an interesting, engaging, and collaborative way (the Simultaneous Learning Practice Map is a good way forward here), and if we connect with practice at the start of the next lesson (how did your practice go?) … then gradually easing students into the practice process—the Simultaneous Learning Practice Cycle—has a really big chance of happening!
Ideas for Preparing Budgets for Your Music Department in Today’s Climate
In 2017, when I first wrote Creatively Preparing the Music Department Budget, I never thought about preparing a follow-up to answer the issues at hand we are facing as music educators.